A mar resistant, weldable zinc-coated metal substrate capable of sustaining the life of a copper-tipped electrode used in welding the substrate through a minimum of 2000 welds is achieved by applying a weldable primer coating composition to the metal, heating the primer composition to provide the desired dry coating, applying a protective coating composition over the primer coating in an amount sufficient to provide from about 50 to about 400 mg/ft.sup.2 of a dry film, and heating the protective coating composition to produce the dry film. Without the resin-based protective coating, the weldable primer is easily marred. The resin-based protective coating, which is from about 0.06 mil to about 0.13 mil thick, improves the mar resistance of the primer and enhances the corrosion resistance of the zinc-coated steel without interfering with the weldability of the primer. The primer contains from about 30 to about 60% of ferrophosphorus and from 0 to about 30% by weight zinc powder. When zinc is present, the ratio of ferrophosphorus to zinc is from about 9:1 to about 1:1 by weight.